The Guardian’s Phillip Inman and Rob Davies report: In the UK, fears of rising redundancies and concerns about the health risks of high street shopping have hit consumer confidence, according to a closely watched survey that flatlined last month. The GfK barometer for July showed confidence petering out, despite rising in May and June. It came as a senior Bank of England policymaker warned Britain’s recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic would be hampered while concerns about catching the virus and fears of redundancy limited spending. In a message that casts doubt on a V-shaped recovery, Jonathan Haskell said a fear of redundancy was likely to prey on the minds of workers, meaning they will save vital funds and not spend them over the coming months: Here is the full story on Trump cancelling Republican national convention events in Jacksonville, Florida: Donald Trump has cancelled the part of the Republican national convention that had been due to take place in Jacksonville, Florida, his biggest public retreat yet from the ferocity of the coronavirus pandemic. The US president’s insistence on a packed crowd had forced the Republican National Committee to announce in June that it would move most of its agenda – including Trump’s acceptance speech as nominee – to Jacksonville from Charlotte, North Carolina, where health guidelines are stricter. But since then, virus infections have soared in Florida, including a record 173 deaths on Thursday, forcing Trump to reluctantly pull the plug. The move is the latest and starkest example of Trump bowing to the scientific reality of the pandemic, which has now infected 4m Americans and killed more than 144,000. A campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, last month suffered a poor turnout, presumably in part because of fears that the virus would spread in the indoor arena. Another recent plan for an outdoor rally in New Hampshire was cancelled, ostensibly because of the weather. Bolsonaro criticised for lack of distancing, despite positive test Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, is again coming under fire after being caught on camera chatting with cleaners on the grounds of his official residence without a mask - despite testing positive for the coronavirus only yesterday. The far-right populist, whose dismissive response to the pandemic has been globally condemned, first announced he had been diagnosed with Covid-19 in early July, when Brazil had suffered more than 65,000 deaths and 1.6m confirmed cases. Since then Brazil’s death toll has risen to nearly 83,000 - the second highest in the world – and the number of cases to 2.2m, a record 67,860 of which were recorded yesterday. Brazil’s president again tested positive for the coronavirus on Wednesday and has supposedly been in isolation since 6 July. Despite that Bolsonaro – who has undermined social distancing efforts and repeatedly downplayed the illness as a “bit of a cold” – was on Thursday spotted by a Reuters photographer roaming the estate around Brasília’s Palácio da Alvorada on a motorbike and talking to cleaners without gear to protect them. US infectious diseases expert Anthony Fauci has thrown out the first pitch at a Nationals-Yankees game, and it didn’t go amazingly well, but it did lead to some okay Covid-19 jokes: US cases pass 4 million Kenya Evelyn The US surpassed 4m coronavirus cases on Thursday, after more than 1,100 new Covid-19-related deaths were reported in a single day on Wednesday for the first time since late May. As states continue to dial back reopening efforts, nearly every metric for tracking the outbreak has shown a worsening spread. The US politicians volunteering other people’s lives to fight Covid-19Read more “I don’t see this disappearing,” Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told tuberculosis researchers during a live stream on Wednesday. “It is so efficient in its ability to transmit from human to human that I think we ultimately will get control of it. I don’t really see us eradicating it.” More than 915,000 new cases have been confirmed in just the past two weeks, totaling more than the entire month of June. The US has now exceeded 140,000 deaths, with Texas alone reporting a state record 197 new fatalities on Wednesday. Hospitalizations have also increased and, the Associated Press reports, testing facilities have been overwhelmed by the surge, creating processing delays. WHO chief chides Pompeo for "untrue" claims The director-general of the World Health Organization has hit back at US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, after British media reported that Pompeo made a comment about the health agency chief having been bought by China, the AP reports. In one of his most stern responses to months of criticism from Washington, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the WHO was focused on saving lives. “The comments are untrue and unacceptable, and without any foundation for that matter,” Tedros told reporters in Geneva. “If there is one thing that really matters to us and which should matter to the entire international community, it’s saving lives. And WHO will not be distracted by these comments.” Critics say the Trump administration has been trying to distract attention from its own failings in managing the coronavirus outbreak in the United States, which has the most confirmed cases and virus-related deaths in the world. In recent months, the administration has repeatedly criticized WHOs handling of the pandemic and its alleged deference to Beijing. President Donald Trump has ordered the United States to withdraw next year from the agency it has bankrolled and supported for decades. Pompeo was not asked about his reported comments at a news conference in Denmark on Wednesday. Before that appearance, The Times of London, citing unidentified attendees, reported he told a gathering of British lawmakers that the U.S. had intelligence suggesting Tedros had been bought by Chinas government and that his election as WHO chief in 2017 had led to the death of British nationals. The State Department did not immediately respond to queries from The Associated Press about the British reports and Tedros remarks, which included blaming partisan politics for worsening the pandemic. Trump cancels the Jacksonville Republican National Convention Maanvi Singh US President Donald Trump cancelled the Jacksonville, Florida Republican National Convention on Thursday. Trump said that it is “not the right time” for a big convention in Jacksonville. Jacksonville, Florida residents filed a lawsuit against the city, the Republican National Committee and the Trump campaign earlier this month to stop the convention in August, concerned that a crowded event would accelerate the spread of disease in a state that is already a coronavirus hotspot. The Republican National Committee had recently announced it would restrict attendance at its Jacksonville convention as Florida’s coronavirus cases and deaths spiked, limiting the number of guests that delegates are able to bring and spreading the event across two venues. Florida reported its largest number of deaths in a single day from the coronavirus today, and more than 10,000 Floridians have tested positive for Covid-19 so far. The convention was originally meant to be held in Charlotte, but the RNC moved the location after North Carolina’s governor Roy Cooper was reluctant about hosting large, crowded events amid the pandemic without distancing and safety measures. “When we made these changes, we had hoped to be able to plan a traditional convention celebration to which we are all accustomed,” RNC chair Ronna McDaniel wrote in a letter to committee members at the time. “However, adjustments must be made to comply with state and local health guidelines.” Summary Hello and welcome to today’s live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic with me, Helen Sullivan. I’ll be bringing you the latest from around the world for the next few hours. As always, suggestions, questions and news from your part of the world are welcome. Get in touch on Twitter @helenrsullivan or via email: helen.sullivan@theguardian.com. The director-general of the World Health Organization has hit back at US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, after British media reported that Pompeo made a comment about the health agency chief having been bought by China. In one of his most stern responses to months of criticism from Washington, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the WHO was focused on saving lives. “The comments are untrue and unacceptable, and without any foundation for that matter,” Tedros told reporters in Geneva. “If there is one thing that really matters to us and which should matter to the entire international community, it’s saving lives. And WHO will not be distracted by these comments.” Here are the key developments from the last few hours: There are 15.3m known cases worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University, and over 626,000 deaths. US President Donald Trump has cancelled the Jacksonville Republican national convention. Trump said that it is “not the right time” for a big convention in Jacksonville. Jacksonville, Florida residents filed a lawsuit against the city, the Republican National Committee and the Trump campaign earlier this month to stop the convention in August, concerned that a crowded event would accelerate the spread of disease in a state that is already a coronavirus hotspot. Former UK prime minister Tony Blair believes coronavirus will not be eliminated.He urged the UK government to focus on containment measures to see the country through a second wave.In an interview with the PA news agency, Blair described the crisis as “the biggest challenge logistically and practically” a government has ever faced, but criticised ministers for not yet putting in place an “infrastructure of containment”. He said: “The reality is that we’re going to be living with Covid-19 - we’re not really going to be able to eliminate it. Bolsonaro criticised for lack of distancing, despite positive test. Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, is again coming under fire after being caught on camera chatting with cleaners without a mask - despite testing positive for the coronavirus only yesterday. Meanwhile Brazil’s death toll passed 84,000. The country has registered 2,287,475 cases of the virus, up from 2,227,514 yesterday. South Africa’s president Cyril Ramaphosa says the country’s coronavirus cases have risen to over 400,000. Ramaphosa said the cabinet has decided that all public schools should be closed for the next four weeks from Monday with some exceptions. Covid-19 cases in the US passed four million on Thursday according to Johns Hopkins University’s tracker, the highest in the world. The US has confirmed 4,005,414 cases since the start of the pandemic. Fresh coronavirus restrictions have been introduced in some areas of Spain amid surging infection rates. Murcia, in the south-east of Spain, sealed off 30,000 people in the town of Totana on Thursday, barring anyone from entering or leaving, while Madrid authorities have urged citizens to wear a mask even at home when they are with people they don’t live with. A French hospital is trialling a breathalyser-style coronavirus test. The National Centre of Scientific Research at la Croix-Rousse hospital in Lyon is testing patients with the machine that enables them to breathe into a tube to see if they have the virus in a matter of seconds. Global cases of Covid-19 have passed 15.2m. According to the Johns Hopkins University coronavirus map, the total number of recorded global cases stands at 15,291,554, while global deaths total 624,742. South Africa has recorded 60% more excess deaths than expected. The country saw about 17,000 extra deaths from natural causes – or 50% more than would normally be expected between early May and mid-July, scientists have said, suggesting many more people are dying of Covid-19 than shown in official figures. Record 366 new coronavirus infections reported in Japan’s capital. Thursday’s figure took cumulative infections to more than 10,000 in Tokyo, topping a daily high of 293 cases last week, as the city’s government declared its highest alert against the disease.